Josh Hamilton left the game with a fracture to his humerus bone, which isn’t connected to the funny bone. He was going down the line head first into home and… Well, he’s Mr. Glass, so what do you expect? Ron Washington can’t believe anyone could ever get hurt going down a line head first. “Nothing but fun to be had there!” That’s Washington talking about the devil’s dandruff. I think Kinsler, Cruz and Hamilton share gloves so one of them must always be on the DL. This opens up playing time for David Murphy. I’ve long been a fan of Murph. Has 15/15 potential and won’t kill you in any categories. I’d grab him in all leagues. Yeah, even yours. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Chris Davis – With the injury to Hamilton, Davis was recalled. Somewhere, Bill James can now wear his cut-off, denim shorts and proudly show off his tramp stamp tattoo that reads, “I love Chris Davis.” Without an injury, I can’t imagine Davis gets much playing time, but he’s still worth a pick up in AL-Only leagues for the off chance of him pulling magic out of his hat.

Michael Young – 3-for-3 as he played 2nd base. Guess who’s going to have 2nd base eligibility in Yahoo leagues by mid-May? Hint: His name appears at the beginning of this blurb.

Mike Napoli – Hasn’t started since Saturday. The conference of MLB managers that is held every year in Pensacola, Florida the first weekend of December is highlighted by Saturday’s all day seminar titled, “How To Prevent Napoli From Hitting 30 HRs In a Year.”

Dan Haren – 9 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks and only allowed one hit. After the game, Haren received a call of congratulations from Armando Galarraga.

Peter Bourjos – 2-for-3 with his first homer. The guy with the hockey player last name has 10 homer power and 30 steal speed, yet I feel like everyone’s already given up on him. For shame.

Mark Trumbo – Hit his first homer the same day it was reported Kendrys was able to run. Somebody Gillooly him please.

Dee Gordon – I just picked him up all over the place. Probably a bit preemie on that but with Furcal out, I gots to get me some upside at MI. Gordon can steal 50 bases this year. Now call him up!

Ryan Raburn – Batted third and went 2-for-4 with 2 Runs, 1 RBI and one formal apology to Leyland for not enjoying his secondhand smoke enough. I hate to be ungrateful, but how do you not start a guy then bat him third? Is this only bonkers to me? Oh, I know. In Monday’s game, Raburn replaced Mags in the three hole, so since Leyland has never heard of White Out he just left the lineup the same.

Michael Cuddyer – 4-for-4, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but it’s wrong a lot more of the time. Remember that.

Jeff Francis – 7 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks. I think he’s garbage but he gets the Mariners next time out who are more garbager.

Wilson Betemit – 2-for-4, now hitting over .500 in the last week though that was boosted by a 4-for-4 day on Sunday. It’s feast or famine with these peasant Royals. Right now, it’s feast for Betemit. At any point, he’ll drop the boom and go back to MOS — ‘Mit Out Starting job.

Alexei Ramirez – 2-for-4, 4 RBIs and 2 homers (3 on the year). Now has more homers than he hit the last three Aprils combined. Cust kayin’.

Brett Myers – 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks. I mean, I’d pick him up if he were on waivers, but I still don’t trust him to keep up this pace.

David Aardsma – Manager Eric Wedge said Aardsma will be the closer when he returns at the end of the month. Wedge also said he doesn’t have a resume, but he can throw one together if it means a job managing a better team.

Wilson Ramos – 2-for-3, batting .450. Nice the Nats are giving Ramos ABs over “My Nickname Pudge Wasn’t Always Ironic” Rodriguez. I’m getting ahead of myself, but Ramos is going to be in Friday’s Buy column and those in two catcher leagues should embrace him. Not literally, that would be weird.

Ryan Howard – 1-for-3 with his third homer. Sonavabench! Why you ask did I have Howard on my bench? Because stupid CBS locks lineups before the first stupid morning game whether the stupid Phillies are playing or not! And CBS charges for this shizz! Why can’t we make it standard across all platforms to lock lineups only for games underway? Is this too much to effin’ ask?

Ricky Romero – 8 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks. I do like Romero. Tis true, if people say tis when it’s not Christmas time, but this was against the M’s.

Michael Pineda – 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks. Hellickson was my AL ROY choice, but I almost went with Pineda. Notice how I don’t mention I chose Freddie Freeman for the NL. Well, they ain’t all roses.

Nate McLouth – Batted 2nd again with Heyward in the six hole. What exactly did McLouth do right and Heyward, who homered yesterday, do wrong? Are we pulling names out of a hat for the lineup card? Fredi reaches in, “Batting third is…New Era.” “Um, Coach, that’s the tag.”

You sell my boy Myers short bro. “I’d pull him off wavers..” pfft my ass you’d pull him in the 15th round and say to your financial analyst, “give me the same results I got from drafting Myers in the 15th round. By which I mean, buy gold a year ago.” doesn’t it annoy you when people try to impress you with your own style? ;)

Edwin Jackson didn’t look as sharp as he did in his first two starts, but Juan Pierre and Alexi Ramirez didn’t do him any favors in the field either. I too love me some David Murphy! He could easily be a cheap source of power and speed, especially with that lineup and ballpark.

Quick question: if you had to roster Crain, Santos, Motte, Romo, Lopez, or Capps looking to vulture some saves and/or usurp a closing gig, who would it be?

you sell my boy Myers short bro. “I’d grab him off wavers..” pfft my ass you’d grab him off the 16th round and say to your financial analyst, “give me the same results I got from drafting Myers in the 16th round, by which I mean buy gold a year ago.”
doesn’t it annoy you when people try to impress you with your own style?

Woke up with a hangover and thinking, Crap. The Red Sox lost again last night, didn’t they? Guess I’ll check the fantasy baseball scores and make sure Hamilton is okay. Dootdeedoo… Uh-oh. 6-8 weeks? I think I’m going to puke.

ESPN sucks too! I’m in an NL only league and they locked the week at the start of of a 1pm AL game. Which was 6 hours before any NL games that started at 7pm that night. So I get a full week of nothing while Zimmerman is on the DL! Is there any better sites to use out there, other than cbs, espn or yahoo that use auction leagues?

@CL: as a napoli whore, yes, set it and forget it. unfortunately this year napoli finally got too rich for my blood. though i somehow ended up with montero in 2 leagues after napoli was drafted. iannetta in the other. bleh.

@Wilsonian: 1) i would hold lind. his upside is way higher than any of the other guys you listed, except maybe gordon. and lind has proven he’s capable of being good for a full season.

2) yeah bills is frustrating me right now, my only SP in my h2h league that’s sucking. but no way you cut him for a flavor of the week. i wouldn’t drop him for pineda and imo pineda is by far the best option of those 4 guys listed. remember it’s only 3 starts. how many guys leave april with a 5+ era and end the season below 3.50?

@ThePoonTycoon: yeah, that’s the hardest part about 8 team leagues, there’s so much talent that it’s tough to figure out who should be dropped. Would it make any difference to you if I said one of Lind/Bruce/Tabata will have to be dropped when Longo comes off the DL?

Also on Bills, he’s by far my least favorite pitcher on my roster. He’s my “#4″ but he’s pitching like a bum. In all fairness, I didn’t like him when I picked him, but I was in need of a #3 and he was the highest on Grey’s list that was left. I then ended up dealing E.Jax/Rasmus for Hamels/Lind, so that bumped Bills down my list, and he just sucks right now, so all things considered I’m having a tough time hanging on to him.

I am in a 10-man points league. I am getting fed up w/ Carlos Pena (currently on bench taking a spot). I am tempted to drop him to add another (but is it too early to give up on him?… will he start to mash in Chi-town?) Also, have Ervin Santana and Edison Volquez…whom I like but not sure if any of the below are worth dropping either of them for.

@Wilsonian: eh, i wouldn’t drop any of them. tabata is off to a good start and should be at worst, ellsbury/gardner production but for a much much cheaper price. and there’s talk from the pirates that his power bump is legit, so it might not be unreasonable to get carl crawford numbers (say 12-15 and 40+?). bruce and lind will be fine, you don’t wanna drop them to watch them blow up in may for someone else while soriano or someone is a black hole on your roster.

and yeah, i drafted bills as my SP3 in a h2h thinking his whip wouldn’t hurt as much in h2h. but i’m not a fan. it was definitely a hold my nose type pick. took gio and kennedy as my SP4 and SP5 though, so that softens the blow.

Swisher got dropped in my league, I have Kubel. Fragu is also available. Pick up Swisher if he clears waivers seems obvious, what about taking a chance on Fragu if Swisher doesn’t, now that Fragu’s on assignment?

Going forward, if you had the choice of Soto or Napoli on your team (5×5, H2H), which way would you go? I have Napoli, but someone in a league (not a razzball league) that I’m in dropped Soto (yes, I know!).

@ThePoonTycoon: I’m taking your advice and not dropping any of them. Who would you play out of the Lind, Bruce and Tabata today if you could only play 2? I’m going Tabata and flipping a coin on the other two. Additionally, it’s going to be a tough call when Longo makes his triumphant return.

Also, I think we have the same pitching staff. I also have Kennedy and Gio on my team with Bills. I kind of threw up in my mouth a little when I took Bills. He just doesn’t do much for me at all. I’ve never really liked him, but I had to go on what everyone was saying about him. I really hope he turns it around and Pineda doesn’t end up being Latos ’11.

I was just looking over J. Upton’s stats for this season and noticed his K/BB (6/6). Is this a positive sign or just the product of a small sample size? Or a little of both?
The same question also to Matt Kemp and his K/BB (4/9).

if you won’t be hurting at 3B and don’t need walden as a RP, then i’d do that deal. you are getting by far the best player imo, and might even end up with close to the 2nd best player if tabata’s early play is an indication of an overall step forward.

@Wilsonian: yeah i’m in a league right now with dread pirate, heyward, rasmus, flying hawaiian, and stanton fighting over 3 OF spot, and the 2 leftover over + morneau fighting over a 2 util spots. right now i have morneau benched until he gets rolling, but i feel like a lot of days are gonna come down to coin flips.

“Hamilton’s 11 Game Iron Man Streak Comes To An End “….I was wondering why I saw Wade Boggs riding that stallion, on the back of a horse….I was wondering why there was 45 minute delay during the Rangers game…I was wondering why Ripken was shaking everyone’s hand….I was wondering why Bonds gave his son a hug…in public…I was wondering if the bowling ball got mad at me every time I threw him in the gutter…now I know that even bowling balls have feelings…even bowling balls can cry…thanks Barry…

I’m happy about my almost all “Grey” team and I just got offered a trade in my 14 team roto league that may complete it. I was offered Dread pirate and J. Johnson for Cargo and Pavano. Should I already have clicked “accept”?

@Grey
I am in a 10-man points league. I am getting fed up w/ Carlos Pena (currently on bench taking a spot). I am tempted to drop him to add another (but is it too early to give up on him?… will he start to mash in Chi-town?) Also, have Ervin Santana and Edison Volquez…whom I like but not sure if any of the below are worth dropping either of them for.

I know you hate catchers but Im thinking about trading Jimenez and A Cabrera for Mauer. Not sure the other guy will even do it but your thoughts? I could use the AVG and the offense in general. I already have Philips and Reyes for MI and I have Hanson, Latos, Hudson, Bedard, Volquez, Beachy, Guthrie, Britton. My plan is to just run two start pitchers out there the whole year. Gracias.

Phillip on Survivor? Yankees, the Wire, Survivor – there have been others – you and I could be a match made in heaven if I was one of the 5 ladies who read this blog – oh and I’m Jewish too. Who do you like better the rest of the way at SS – Drew or Desmond? Does it depend on steals or HR?

Good stuff Grey!
When do you predict Gordon be called up? You thinking days/week/or weeks…?
Also, just wanted to thank-you for plugging Tabata so much in pre-season. I own him on all of my teams and never picked him before 190. Thanks broski.

Is there a glossary term for: A player that you really want to trade for and you feel that the “fantasy baseballer” that owns him would give him up based on his roster….but the team is obviously abandoned (DLs and NAs starting in his lineup) making it impossible to make a trade?

Hey man, I want to thank you because from over a year of reading this site I was conditioned, deep down, to know that Hamilton would definitely get injured for a significant stretch this year…He’ll probably hit the bottle while he’s out too. I’m just glad I didn’t draft him this year.

Someone in my league dropped Morneau, now that he’s on waivers I can bid on him, how much would you bid? I’m thinking 8. Everyone has $100 budget to play with…I would drop Pena for him.

Also, would you drop Sean Rod for Jose Lopez or Peralta? My league counts slugging and walks.

I don’t want to sound like a dick, but the managers who drafted Hamilton had to know this injury (or something like it) was fate. Unless Hamilton fell into your lap after pick 30 then it’s your fault for wasting an early round pick on an uber-talented, but super fragile/slow healing Hamilton.

In all seriousness, as a Pirate fan I hope Tabata keeps it up. Dumb fans were flipping out over the new regime trading “stars” like Bay, McClouth and Nady (who are all setting the league ablaze) for prospects, so it would be nice if Tabata proves to be bona fide.

In a 16-team h2h cats league, I have Longoria DL’d (jose lopez interim) and Torres day-to-day (dropped a crappy SP for Trumbo to fill UTIL). I have no batting bench players to maximize IP, W, and Ks (besides Torres right now). I have Brignac at SS. I want Dee Gordon, but I cant stash him, unless its for Trumbo or Lopez. What would you do in this situation?

@Dr. Stats: in defense of some of us (myself included) we did not draft him, but rather made a very good trade for him at the start of last season – in my case, Carlos Zambrano for Hamilton, straight up – and he was still one of my best keepers. We keep 5, and they are our first 5 rounds, no other penalties, and he had to be kept simply based on what he could provide should he play 120+ games. I knew he would break at some point (5 games here, 5 games there, maybe a 20 day stint on the DL), but no one can predict that the dude would break his arm/shoulder sliding in head first at home on a foul pop-up to third.

@ThePoonTycoon: As a twins fan I agree, but at the same time I know he’s going to get injured in july/august so I’d like to get him as cheap as possible…I have no qualms about bidding high to lock him up though, maybe 25? If people in this league are dropping the likes of Morneau who knows who could be next…some leftover ammo might be useful.

Side note: I check your Y! friends and family league a couple times a week to see the obscure players you pick up that Im clueless about. Ive learned a lot, and I knew you were going to write about Dee Gordon last night. Feel free to be flattered or creeped out..

If you got Fragile McHamilton for Zambrano straight up then that’s one hell of a deal. Man, even 250 Abs (+ replacement) of Hamilton is worth way more then Z-Man’s bloated WHIP and 4.00+ era. I bet that same guy drafted Mookie Wilson hoping for a comeback.

Hello again Grey. I have a trade question for you. I am loaded with SPs (at least their position says so) and I am slightly short on Saves. I have Valverde and Burnett and am hopeful that Capps offs Nathan and takes over. I was thinking of offering one a guys who has 5 Closers (that’s right 5) Edwin Jackson for one of his. Do you think Jackson for say Chris Perez is a good deal for me? I have 9 other starters and, well, Jackson is simply pissing me off. If not Perez, what comparable Closer?

@Dr. Stats: ha, he’s actually been in the top 3 in our league the last few seasons (16 Team H2H). I looked back, it wasn’t the start of last season, it was the end of 2009 but it was straight up Big Z for Hamilton. I then kept Hamilton at the start of 2010. I’ll definitely take that deal every day, and twice on Sunday. But yeah, I avoided him like the plague in my other leagues (and Nellie as well) simply because you are guaranteed a breakdown.

Would you do Aaron Hill and Gavin Floyd for Uggla or would you trade Alex Gordon for Ryan Raburn and just back Hill up until he breaks out of his slump? Both offers are on the table. I have Drabek in the wings to come up if I deal Floyd, but I can keep his contract lower if I keep him down longer.

Should I burn my #1 waiver priority on Murphy? Right now, I’d be putting him in Snider’s spot. It seems early enough that I should hold that waiver position, but he could get pretty many ABs this year given the health history of the Texas OFs. Unless, of course, his intercostal oblique appendices start acting up. . .

Holy cripes, the comments sure do fill up faster than a couple years ago…

Drop Volquez for Zach Britton? Obviously Volquez has the easier schedule, but he pisses me off almost every time he starts. And Britton has been lights out across a very small sample. Decisions, decisions…

As you know from reading Razzball speed is cheap, easy to find and often over-rated (kind of like a Tijuana lap-dance)

Therefore, I’d trade Bourne straight up for Kimbrel if he’ll bite. If not, I think Pineda is worth trying to aquire….he looks GREAT!

Finally, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to trade Chacin or D. Hudson. Those are two upside guys I would wait on bro…unless you can package Bourne and one of them for Verlander (depends how desperate/intelligent the other manager is)

@Grey: Ok, so you’d start Anderson at CWS, Lilly at SF and Wandy at home against the Cubbies, but I’ve got an innings limit to worry about! Can you rank these guys for me?

Did you know that no team that Anderson has started more than 1 game against has hit him harder than the White Sox? And he sports a career 4.60 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, .326 BAA against those same white sox? And that last year he rang up 2 k’s in 12 IP against the Sox, and gave up 5ER in 5.1 IP in has last appearance at US Cellular? They’ve got Dunn back in the lineup and they are leading the AL in runs scored so far.

@bogbert: I’d punt Wells for Markakis, but I think Grey was trying to emphasize two things about Markakis: (1) a lot of his value comes from average; and (2) even in a great year, he’s likely to meet or just barely exceed those projections instead of smashing them. Markakis will never wake up one morning and be a 30 HR guy, even if he sacrifices 25 points off the average. Wells can give you 30 HR if he gets 500 ABs, but the downside can be severe.

Ha! Best Ron Washington one yet.
I have 4 closers in my NL only league and would like to get rid of one for an OF or MI. Which one would you rather hold on to: Burnett or Contreras? I’m looking at getting Gomes or Smith, btw. Thanks!

Liriano on pace for 0-30 record this year– I asked Grey and he said after three bad starts you should immediately drop your #1/2 starter for waiver wire belly button lint; see also: Verlander, Justin; Lester, Jon; the person who always comes in last place in your league

My Swisher for his Michael Young. He just lost Hamilton and needs an OF (we start 3) and he likes Swisher. I’d be getting Young to bolster IF/UT position. H2H points league settings favor power…Swisher projected 10 more points overall. Should I try to do this trade?

Can Carpenter be tried for murdering the beautiful ERAs put up by Hanson and Haren on my team yesterday? Also, would it be worth dropping Rodney for K-Farns-Dog? how about bumgarner for Narv dog? Thank grey

Hi Grey – Im in a 12 team Yahoo H2H 7×7 one win with CG, SHO, HLDS, 3B, OBP, GS Ks against and yes I have Fantasy ADD.
I have Maicer Itzuris as my super (f)utility infielder) and I’m rocking a tandem of Arencibia and Posada

So while his numbers are ugly now, and coupled with his presence on Rudy’s risky pitchers list, I can see the desire to drop him. At the same time, do you want to be the guy that dropped Liriano before he could post those June-October numbers? You drafted him in the 8th-ish round, probably to be your ace, for a reason. It seems more like a “time to bench him until he turns it on” situation than a “time to cut bait” situation.

Grey – I just couldn’t do it. I feel like Arencibia will get as much play time as Posada and considering Posada is 4/30 with 3 HR, he’s just plain ugly in the box. Arencibia already has two triples. Basically, I’m asking for your blessing.

Grey, stroke your magic ‘stache and grant me some wisdom! I just picked up Kinsler in a trade, so I no longer have much use for an ice cold Aaron Hill. Should I hold him in my utility spot or dump him and pick up a refreshing Lance Berkman?

14 team H2H 6×6 (ops + holds) 30 roster spots so FA is gahbage… do u like any of these guys more than my Tim Stauffer (all were recently dropped) or should I just play match-ups accordingly:

James McDonald – not sure I believe
Carl Pavano – hate k rate and league. Pretty sure I hate him.
Bud Norris – think he’s better than first 2 showings, but team sucks as does park, but love the k potential
Homer Bailey – I know he’s a few weeks away

Right now I have Tiny Tim benched, so I’m not over-reacting quite yet. Didn’t like 2nd start at home at all… Just wanted your take on FA ugly ducklings to see if you spot a gem. We usually agree, so please let me know.

@Grey:
Do we know anything more about this cuban outfielder that the Rangers just signed for 15 million? Leonys Martin – The blurb I read said his bat isn’t major league ready just yet but is expected to be called up this year…

Meh..that is what a bench is for. Lucky for me I benched Liriano in all appropriate leagues prior to today and will do the same for Thornton. He is a good pitcher, no need to drop..it is a long season. Now if it gets to June and I need the bench and nothing changes..

Oh and lucky me I picked up Raburn on WW for Omar Infante. He will be my Hill insurance for a little while.

I need a backup 2B for my deep H2H Points league. Right now, the two choices I see are Bill Hall or Jamey Carroll. I’m leaning toward Carroll because he has SS eligibility. What do you guys think?

Also, is there anyone you can think of with a little upside potential that I could pick up instead? The fact that I am choosing between Hall and Carroll should show the level of depth I am picking from.

10-team H2H: I can get Roy Halladay, Soria, and Quentin for Jonathan Sanchez, Nunez, Bruce, and Ethier. I would then have Quentin, B.J. Upton, Markakis, and Sizemore in the OF. Should I run with this or too much to give up?

I’d feel bad for Kennedy owners, but I have Felix, Liriano, Carpenter, Hudson, Brett Anderson, and Bumgarner. Hanson was awful before yesterday, Norris has been dreadful. Nolasco has been my best pitcher. I’m last in every pitching category in my league. Except K, I’m second to last.